1. Technical Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to an improved cotton applicator including a supporting rod having a pledget of cotton on at least one of its ends.
Such cotton applicators are widely utilized for cleaning purposes. They are used for instance for hygienical purposes relating to ears and nose and the probably largest field of use is the cleaning of the auditory canal.
2. Description of The Prior Art
Generally known cotton applicators lead to problems and difficulties particularly with respect to a cleaning of the auditory canal that may be dangerous due to the pledget of cotton penetrating too deep into the auditory canal possibly giving rise to considerable injuries or defects. It is not only possible that the drumskin of the ear may suffer an injury but an excessive penetration of the pledget of cotton into the auditory canal may displace a cerumen clot deep into the auditory canal; such a cerumen clot pushed deeply within the auditory canal must be flushed out by a physician by means of water flushing procedures operating at rather high water pressures. It is, furthermore, known that an extremely deep penetration of the pledget of cotton within the auditory canal has often led to injuries of the inner auditory canal as well as of the drumskin of the ear.
The prior art is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 2,987,063 issued June 6, 1961 to S. W. Glickston, which discloses a swab applicator made of a longitudinal stick with a swab of absorbent cotton disposed on each end of the stick.
The above mentioned Glickston patent discloses a swab applicator which includes a necked-down portion between its body portion and a spherical end portion. This arrangement has many defects when used for ear treatment, e.g., the spherical end only provides a circumferential treating area of the ear canal whereas a cylindrical area would treat most of the cylindrical wall of the ear canal; the body portion is only slightly larger in diameter than the spherical end and the increasing annular taper would enhance entry into the ear rather than limiting penetration of the spherical end in the ear canal; the neck portion forms a weak spot whereby the spherical end could be separated from the applicator; the support rod is only in the body portion and thus cannot lend any support to the neck portion or spherical end whereby separation could result as when the spherical end could be prevented from rotating by ear wax stuck to the forward part of the spherical end.